NEW DELHI, NOV 27: Having secured the support of a fourth MP, Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is set to launch his party, christened `Jan Shakti,' tomorrow. But the Janata Dal (United) cried foul, saying that the party remained intact and that only four MPs had broken away.At a press conference held here this afternoon, Paswan presented the three MPs supporting him. These included his younger brother Ram Chandra Paswan, former Union minister Jai Narayan Nishad and Ramesh Jigajinagi, a loyalist of former Union minister Ramakrishna Hegde. Former Bihar chief minister Abdul Ghafoor and veteran socialist leader Ajit Kumar Mehta, a four-term MP who was denied the Lok Sabha ticket this time by RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, were also present on the occasion.``The new party has already been formed in principle,'' Paswan said, adding: ``We now have the requisite strength to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law.''Claiming that his party will take up the anti-Laloo Prasad Yadav role in Bihar politics, Paswan said that some more MPs, who were feeling suffocated in their parties, were likely to join him soon.The Dalit leader from Bihar gave enough hints to suggest that his party would work in tandem with the BJP to oust Laloo. ``They are working sincerely against the RJD government. The rest have a tacit understanding with Laloo,'' he alleged.Paswan hit out at JD (U) president Sharad Yadav and Samata leader Nitish Kumar, saying: ``It is because of their obstinacy that the unification of the parties could not take place.''He ridiculed Nitish for joining hands with Laloo to prepare the blueprint for the development of the state. ``We'll seek a financial package, but without joining hands with the RJD chief,'' he said.A cornered JD (U), on the other hand, alleged that the `Jan Shakti rally' had been converted into `Dhan Shakti rally.' ``Never before have so many hoardings and cut-outs been put up for a new party,'' charged party spokesman Mohan Prakash.
